Big Boy

Good info on the fight, sounds like a deal that neither coach could have helped. As for "being a good coach it shouldn't matter what level" I will have to disagree with. Having coached for 30 years on all three levels I can tell you there is a big difference. In Jr. High, there is very little pressure to win, fundamentals are being taught more than an emphasis on execution, parents make sure their kids are at practice and there is very little else for kids to do. In high school, you deal with kids having more on their plate. Coaches fight over the best athletes, kids quit and get jobs to pay for cars, dating, and there is a big difference in growth of the players. In Jr. High putting a 6th grader vs a 7th or 8th, not that much of a difference, but in high school and especially on the single A level where alot of times you have to play freshmen vs seniors it is a huge difference. In college, you become a salesmen and a mediator more than a coach. It's about recruiting and keeping them out of trouble and eligible. I really think alot of people miss the boat on coaching. There is not much left to be invented as far as x' and o's..it's alot about the players you have running them that matter. I hear alot of refernce to Coach Insell which is understandable, but what is reality is that he for the most part always had the better players, no matter where they were from. You learn as a coach from other successful coaches on how to run a program and how to manage a game. I am sure Coach Insell was a great mentor to several young coaches but don't be fooled that just because an apple falls from the tree that it is ripe. It's about players, and a willingness from that player to spend extra time at the game and when you are in a single A school and the best players play 2 and 3 sports, don't be surprised if they are good at all of them but not great at any of them. Ask Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban if there is a difference on the different levels.

Wow, being an outsider I just figured out that these two schools are in the same county. Are these the same two schools that were in the fight we read about earlier this year on the floor? Was this another reason the Unionville coach was let go? If so, why was the Cascade coach not? Seems that the names up for the jobs are local people who have been very successful but I was wondering why you would fire a coach with 20 years experience and replace him with a jr. high coach? Was Coach Spencer a great local high school player? What about the other candidates? Also, how do you decide a jr. high coach is a great "tactician"? Just wondering....this is really good stuff for us that don't have a dog in the fight.

I also noticed in your paper that the girls coach resigned as well. Same kind of deal or a different issue? Is the Insell disciple (funny) a girls or guys candidate? Maybe what you need because we all know Insell could go out and get the best players, no matter where they were from. It shows at MTSU because he is a heck of a recruiter and is doing a fine job there.

Good points...so I take it this is an area in which alumni are very avid basketball people waiting to back a winner. Is there a coach out there with local ties that could get this going cause it seems like this would be the only fit in this situation? I am not familiar with the area so I don't know. I wish the old coach, the new coach and the program alot of success in the future.

Wow..another coach gets fired after giving his all to a program for most of his career. From what I read in the newspaper article in the local paper is that Coach Edmondson had a really great run when he started in 1988 - 1989. After that, not much was mentioned. My question is before the 88-89 season or after, what happened? I read on here all the time about people wanting coaching changes as if that will solve their problems. If a program has never won on a consistant level, what makes you think a coaching change will help. If a school goes 40 to 50 years and has only 1 substate appearance to show for it, maybe the truth is that the plyers aren't very good or you are in a district/region that every year has more talent. Since loyalty to a coach who stayed this long is out the window, I think all coaches should start adopting the "strike while the kettle is hot" method. If you win 15 - 20 games at a school or take them to a level that they have never been too, then that coach should get out while the getting is good. Never mind being a good educator in the classroom, a good citizen in the community, and a positive influence for young men who may not have a solid family base at home. Throw out the fact that you spend alot of valuable time away from your family that a coach will never get back. Don't include the verbal abuse that a coach, a coaches spouse and his/her children may hear over the years to go along with the wonderful compensation you receive as well. Because being a person of this stature will only get you the door when a few parents get their feathers ruffled and we all know that if the right parents get ruffled, anything can happen. At what point to you let a coach finish his career in a place this coach evidentally loved. He loved it enough to stay for this long probably through more bad seasons than good. But it's the world we live in, a me society. The real question here is, who do the people of this school think they can get to come to a small single A school with a history of average teams to take them where they want to go? Where do they think they can go? You will never get a coach with a reputation of winning to come. The only chance you have is to find a young assistant coach somewhere who has ties to your county that would come in for his/her first head job and then probably bail on you after any success if he/she is smart. I know this is long but after having read alot of threads on here all year long about coaches, I just wanted to say my peace. I hope Coach Edmondson well and I hope this and all schools start evaluating the reality of their situations and start realizing that wins aren't always as important as the kind of young men the coach turns out every year.

The brackets for the boys side is wrong. With DeKalb losing to Cannon, Macon is the 3 seed, York the 4 and DeKalb the 5 seed.

Just an opinion but I think Dunn because of his ability to create offense and score on any defense that has been thrown at him. I have seen pretty much all his games and I think everyone in the district has a hard time guarding him. On Welch and Martin I think maybe because these guys have developed their programs into teams that can beat anybody in this district. I saw the Macon v Livingston game and we trailed the whole game and they took us to OT before we pulled it out. Since Welch has been at Macon they have made strides every year and I believe they are 17-7 this year playing York tonight to get to third place possible. Martin has done the same. He is a great game coach from what I have seen and gets the most out of his team. I hate to put words in anyone's mouth but it's just my opinion. Honestly, I think for Coach of the Year you could put all seven coaches in a hat and draw. From top to bottom, this district is as balanced as I have seen it in years. If you look at Cannon Co, they have several losses by just a few points in the District. The tournament will be fun this year and can't wait to see it.

Missed this game last night and can't find a score. Anyone know?

well, I posted the question. Guess no one has a solution but everyone wants to complain. It has been humerous reading all the posts.

just curious...if this program has a history of losing, what coach (or who in particular) do you think could come in and take a program with 5 or so winning seasons in 50 years and turn it around? Also, what does Tullahoma have to do with what's wrong with this school? I am not familiar with this area so please excuse my ignorance. I was just wondering about the coaching thing because in the business world or any other job market, no reputable business person goes to work for a company with a history of losing money or a bad reputation. Seems to me you have a local person who has a love for his community doing the best he can. If you replace this person, you would probably have to get the same kind of coach to come in or a young coach just looking for a start. Hate to see people get in such an uproar over a game when our world and kids have so many real challenges to face. Kids are pretty smart these days and I am sure reading all this about their program and their coach hasn't helped matters. Hope these young men are able to string a couple of wins together for them, their coach and for their community. Good luck guys.

just curious from someone who isn't from the area being talked about but just by reading these posts I was wondering if you guys are talking about a program that was once really good and is now down or is it a program that has been always down? I heard they won a state title in girls a while back but can't remember ever hearing about the boys team ever doing much of anything. From an outsider, I do hope that whatever happens with your program that we all remember that it's a game played by kids and at the end of the day if the coach is a good person who doesn't mistreat the kids, is it really as bad as I have been reading? I remember coming to your community a few years ago and everyone there was very gracious and it seemed like a great place to be. Hope the best for all involved. I have never coached either but it seems to me the hardest thing about coaching high school is playing with the hand your dealt. Can't really press if you have guys who are slow, can't really rebound well if you have 5'10" and the opponent has 6'4". I just think sometimes high school coaches take way too much heat for things out of their control. If you have a group that plays hard and leaves it all on the floor, isn't that what you really want, win or lose, to me that's a team you can be proud of. Again, sry this is so long but just thought an unattached opinion may help. Good luck to you guys the rest of the way.

Are you crazy? If Macon has one thing, it's a classy group of guys. We have played them twice and both times they have gotten together and prayed after the game. What are you basing this on?

What a game. Our boys were down by 7 with 5 mins to go and pulled it out in OT. Macon struggled at the free throw line which let us back in the game. I bet they missed at least 15 free throws or they would have run us out of the gym. I see alot of talk about who's who in 7AA, but for me I really hope we don't see Macon again. They are big, play hard and are very well coached. They are the one team who looks like they are going to peak at the right time. Great win LA.

Station Camp 63 Macon Co. 60 Jackson Co. 50 Westmoreland 44 Station Camp v Macon was a barn burner, Macon missed a tough three to tie us and Westmoreland and Jackson Co was close to the end. I hear the deal on the bracket changes was due to a team reporting a different overall record after the posting of the brackets so they had to move 2 teams to make the seatings fair based on records.

I am not a 7-AA fan but I have seen most of these teams play and everyone better take note of Macon Co. Tonight, they took my boys Station Camp to the wire and lost 63-60 at the buzzer. Smith Co is in the same tourney and didn't fair well at all. The fans said this was Macon's first loss in their last 6 games. Word is that they have steadily improved because one of their top guards missed the first part off the season due to illness. They are big and physical and definantly looked like a team that could make some noise.